Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Technology within my Classroom
Technology continues to become a larger and more important part of my classroom and teaching style every day. Currently I have a classroom website that includes a blog. I use this blog for students to respond to various topics that relate to the novel we are reading or a specific Science topic we are studying. Writing seems to be a weakness for many of my 5th grade students, so this provides them with an opportunity to communicate, while working on their writing skills. Many of my students enjoy using technology to write and look forward to having time to blog within the classroom.
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Suzie, with working with fifth grade students, do you find it challenging to keep them focused and motivated to do your assignments? As a fourth grade teacher, I want to start blogging but I am worried about making sure that my students are fully engaged. How do you have them blog and how often? Do you post a question and have them repond within a certain period of time? Can the students see other students responses and how do you get away from repetitive answers? Also, do you have parents upset that you are not sending papers home on a daily basis for them to feel connected with the class? I think blogging is a great tool for students and am looking forward to starting it in my own class.
ReplyDeleteMichelle
Have you thought about including parents in your blogs? I would assume that maybe fifth grade students will need a little more accountability to keep them doing what they should be doing. Having parents on board will force the students to take the assignments seriously instead of looking at it as all fun and games on the computer. If parents were involved on certain blogs and could keep track of work, their children might be more apt to take the assignment seriously. It might also be interesting to get the parent point of view.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Erin that getting the parents involved would keep them on task and discourage any fooling around with the assignments. My highest grade level is 3rd and I'm just trying to figure out ways to introduce them to the concept. I don't expect any great writing to take place on the blog, but i expect it to get them thinking about their writing and using their peers as a sounding board. I'm hoping they will feel comfortable writing for their peers.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could assign a few students a topic. Allow them to respond, and then let the others comment and peer edit the topic. After that process, assign a few more until everyone takes a turn posting to a topic. This will introduce the concept of writing and commenting.
ReplyDeleteThat's a gread idea, Kelly. As a teacher of kindergarten, I am a firm believer in modeling! And by making the students take turns, the students will be more excited about the assignment as they wait for their turn to do it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the great suggestions. I am becoming more and more excited about the idea of blogging. I currently have my blog connected to my classroom website, which allows my entire class, their parents and really anyone who logs onto our school website to participate. This year will be my first year where blogging is not just an optional activity. Last year, students blogged from home or if they had additional time during computer time. I think that modeling and taking turns will be successful, along with getting parents more involved. I will designate a portion of my weekly newsletter to
ReplyDeletetechnology (blogging, etc...) and use it to update parents on the new technology within their child's classroom.
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about keeping students engaged in blogging. I found it to be very successful. Children are excited about technology! I found that blogging was a great way to get my students to participate in group discussions (especially the quiet students). They are able to express their own ideas and then wait for others to reply. As for sending papers home, this does not replace writing projects or vocabulary/spelling activities. Parents are still receiving papers and I can always copy/print copies of the students blogs to keep for conferences.
Thanks for the advice Suzie. I am looking forward to getting students introduced to blogging. I am sure they will love using it, especially if the option was blogging verse turning in a written assignment. I love the idea of having group discussions. As a science teacher I think I am going to set it up for all students to post questions and comments about our lessons. I also like the idea of keeping a hard copy for conferences. I am sure many parents have never blogged before so that would be good to have.
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